Dispensing machine



Aug. 23, 1938.

F. c. Du GRENIER 2,128,181

DISPENS ING MACHINE Filed Dec. l, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet l Aug. 23, 1938.

F. c. DU GRENIER DISPENSING MACHINE Filed DGO. 1, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 @ff-Elma MGM Patented Aug. y23, 1938 l t l UNITED; STATES PATENT oFFlcE n DISPENSING MACHINE Francis C. Du Grenier, Haverhill, Mass., assigner of one-half to Blanche E. Bouchard, Haverhill, Mass.

Application December 1, 1937, Serial No. 177,423

4 Claims. (Cl. S12-67) This invention relates to that type of dispensing dispensed, so that the packages in the supplemachines which are primarily designed to vend mental Acompartment may then be dispensed. packages of uniform size as, for example, pack- For a more complete disclosure of my invenages of cigarettes. tion, reference is now made to the following speci- The type of machine for vending cigarettes now' flcation in connection with the accompanying 5 most generally employed comprise a series of verdrawings in which: tically disposed compartments in which diierent Fig. l is a front elevation of a portion of a mabrands of cigarettes are stacked and from which chine,l embodying my invention. the bottom package of the stack of packages Figs., 2, 3, 4 and 5 are sectional views of a therein is dispensed by a c'oin released ejector. package containing compartment showing cerl0 As such machines must be serviced from time tain parts in dierent positions. to time to replace fresh packages for those which Fig. 6 is a sectional view at line 65-6 of Fig. 4. have been dispensed, it is desirable to have the Fig. '7 is ali-ear side elevation of. thecompartcapacity of these machines as great as possible for ment.

the size of the machine. Moreover the sales of While in practice machines of this-type usually l5 certain brands of cigarettes often greatly exceed are provided with from 4 to 8 packages containing the sales of other brands, so that, as all the comcompartments, as my invention may be illuspartments are usually of equal capacity, the suptrated in connection with a single compartment, ply in some compartments becomes exhausted only one of them is completely shown.

before it is exhausted inothers. This difiiculty The machine is provided with an enclosing cas- 20 has been avoided by employing two compartments ing 'iu having a window H arranged to permit for the best sellers, but this involves either an inspection of the packages in thev lower portion of increase in the width of the machine or in a the vertically disposed package containing comreduction in the number of different brands which partment l2 and an ejector i3 is provided at the are vended. bottom'of the compartment having a handle Il, 25

An increase in size results in an increase in cost the arrangement being such that, when the latterl and is objectionable on account of the increased is released, the handle may be pulled out so as to space occupied and it is desirable to have a mawithdraw the ejector I3 from the normal position chine vend as many of the popular brands as beneath the stack, shown nFig. 2, to permit the possible, packages therein to move down Aby gravity, so 30 The object of my invention is to provide a disthat the bottom package will fall in front of the vperusing machine of the above described type, in ejector, as shown in Fig.' 3. The handle will then which the capacity of some or all of the compartbe pushed inward, so that the bottom package ments may be substantially increased, or nearly will be pushed rearward and delivered into the doubled without in any degree increasing the size package delivering passage i5, as shown in Fis. 4, 35 of the Cabinet 1n which the dispensing mechaand will slide down onto the tray it where it may nismisenclosed and without increasing the manube Secured by the purchaser. a5 Shown in Fig- 5- facturing cost to the extent to which it would be A locking arm il. engages the elector. which increased by adding a sumcient number of comwhen released by mechanism not shown, permits 40 partments to increase the capacity to a corres- ,the abOV described Opel'ami, 40

p0riding extent Accordlng to my invention, I provide a supple- I a,ooompiish this obi-ooi., by providing a xed mental compartment i8, the front wall I9 of vertioaiiy disposed compartment adapted to com whlch normally constltutes the corresponding tain a Stack of packages, from the bottom which portion of the rear wall of the Airont compartment packages are dispensed in the usual manner and d ingo sadtiompartmen 1s nomted on a' 45 by providing in the rear thereof a supplemental p VO a e upper en 0 Wal 9 to swing forwardly, from the vertical position of Figs. 2 compartment also adapted to contain a Stack of and 3, into the front compartment, as shown in packages, which are normally sustained therein Fig. 5, in which latter position ii7 iS Siighti in 0 by a xed Support in the rear of the from' com' clined from the vertical and has its lower ed in 50 Daftmentf Said Supplemental ompartment being register with the lower portion of the front .com- DVOBJIY Supported at its upper end and being partment, so that packages which have been arranged 0.0 Swing automatically k111130 register, at stacked in the rear or supplemental compartment its lower end, with the front compartment, when will be delivered to the lower portion of the front the packages in the latter have nearly all been compartment. l 55 which is arranged to engage the rear wall of the rear compartment I8, said arm being so tensioned that it will act, when released, to swing compartment I8 forwardly to the position of Fig. 5. When, however, the front compartment contains a sufficient number of packages to support a package opposite the lower end of the front `wall i9, the

latterA will be pressed against the package, which will' hold the rear compartment in its vertical position, as shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4.

As thus arranged, the downward feeding of the packages in the front compartment will be prevented, as illustrated in Fig. 3, and means are provided to release the pressure on the package temporarily, so that downward feeding therein will be permitted. Said means comprises a plate 26, which is mounted on a pivot 21 secured on the partition 24 and which extends opposite the passage in partition 24, thru which the package is forced as it is discharged into the delivery passage !5. A link 28 is pivotally connected at one endvto plate 26, and at its opposite end to one end of link 29, the latter being pivoted at its opposite end to a bracket 30 on partition 24. A finger 32 extends obliquely downward from the plate 25 and is so arranged that when plate 26 is swung rearward by the package when discharged, as shown in Fig. 4, ya roller 33 on the pivot of the joint between links 28 and 29 will be moved upward into engagement with finger 32`and, as a result, the plate 25 will be pushed away from the rear wall of the compartment i8, so that th'e lower end of front wall I9 will not be pressed againstthe package, thereby permitting the package which was engaged, andthe packages above it, to move down by gravity for a distance equal to the thickness of the package which was ejected, as shown in Fig. 4.

As thus arranged the packages in the front compartment will be successively delivered until the topmost package moves down below the level of the lower end of the front side I9, and, when this occurs, there will not be any package in position to resist the action of spring arm 22, which will then act to swing the rear compartment forwardly into register with the lower portion of the mental compartment merely occupies space above changed, as the packages which may be seen thru the window l I appear the same whether they are delivered vfrom Vthe front, or the rear compartment. 'I'he increased cost of adding a rear compartment is less than the cost of providing an additional front compartment and in practice the supplemental compartments are only provided for the compartments in which the best sellers are to be placed. i

. I claim:

1. In a dispensing machine having a vertically disposed fixed main compartment adapted to contain a stack of packages and a reciprocally movable ejector arranged when moved inwardly to deliver the packages successively from the bottom of the stack in the rear thereof, a supplemental package receiving compartment open at its lower end and arranged in the rear of said main cornpartment, a fixed support beneath said supplemental compartment for normally sustaining the packages therein, supporting means for said supcompartment permitting forwardI plemental movement thereof into position to discharge the packages therein into the lowerportion of said y means arranged to be actuated by the ejector as it delivers a package from the bottom of the main compartment to move said supplemental compartment rearwardly sufliciently to disengage it permit the` packages therein tomove downward.

2. In a dispensing rriachine having a vertically disposed fixed main compartment adapted to contain a stack of packages and a reciprocally movable ejector arranged'when moved rearwardly to deliver 'the packages successively from the bottom of the stack in the rear thereof, a supplemental package receiving compartment open at its lower end and arranged in the rear .of said main compartment, a fixed support beneath said' supplemental compartment for normally sustaining the packages therein, supporting means for. saidsupplemental compartment permitting forward movement thereof into position to discharge the packages therein into the lower portion of said main compartment, a spring normally acting to press said supplemental compartment forward and to hold a portion thereof'against a package in thexmain compartment, whereby said supplemental compartment is held in its normal position, and means arranged to be actuated by said ejector when delivering a package to move said supplemental compartment rearwardly to from the-packages in the main compartment and A permit the package engaged thereby to movev downward.

3. In a dispensing machine having a vertically disposed lxed main compartment adapted to contain a stack of packages and areciprocally movable ejector arranged when moved rearwardly to deliver the packages separately from the bottom of the stack in the rear thereof,` a supplemental compartment disposed in the rear of said main compartment open at its lower end, and having its front wall forming a portion of the rear wall thereof, a fixed support beneath said acting to move said supplemental compartment 75 forwardly into said position, and to engage said front wall with a package in the main compartment, whereby said supplemental compartment is normally held in a retracted position and is perthe ejector to mo e said supplemental compartment rearwardly temporarily to permit a package with which it is engaged to move downward.

4. In a dispensing machine having a vertically disposed main compartment adapted to contain a stack of packages and a reciprocally movable ejector arranged, when moved rearwardly to deliver the packages separately from the bottom of the stack in the rear thereof, a supplemental compartment having its front wall forming the rear wall of said main compartment and open at its lower end, a. pivotal support for said supplemental compartment located at the upper end of said front wall and arranged to permit the supplemental compartment to swing into the main compartment to a position in. which its lower end coincides with the lower end portion thereof, a support in the rear of the main compartment arranged to sustain the packages in the supplemental compartment when inits retracted position, a spring normally acting to swing said supplemental compartment into said position within the main compartment, whereby a package in the main compartment when sustained above the lower end of said front wall will hold 'the supplemental chamber in its retracted position, and means varranged to be 'actuated by each package as it is delivered by the ejector tolmove said supplemental compartment rearwardly temporarily to permit the package with which it is engaged to move downward.

FRANCIS c. DU GRENIER. 

